Cynthia L Smith
Biographic Data
| ID | 3774075 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Cynthia L Smith |
| GIVEN NAMES | Cynthia L |
| FAMILY NAME | Smith |
| SIGNATURE | SMITH C L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Virginia Tech |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3555-8771 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 190 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Co‐Changes and Mutual Influences of Fearful Temperament, Task Switching, and Maternal Intrusiveness in Early Childhood
This study employed latent change score models to examine the co‐changes and mutual influences of fearful temperament, task switching, and maternal intrusiveness in early childhood. Participants included 335 children (171 boys, 164 girls; M age = 3.09 years at baseline; 77.3% White, 14.0% Black, 8.4% multiracial, 0.3% Asian, 7.8% Hispanic) and their mothers. Higher levels of maternal intrusiveness at 36 months predicted a smaller increase in chil…
The role of mother’s and child’s self-regulation on bidirectional links between harsh parenting and child externalizing problems
The authors examined task-based (i.e., executive function), surveyed (i.e., effortful control), and physiological (i.e., resting cardiac respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) measures of child and maternal regulation as distinct moderators of longitudinal bidirectional links between child externalizing (EXT) behaviors and harsh parenting (HP) from 6 to 9 years. The sample size was 299 (50.9% female; 1% Asian, 4% multiple races; 14% Black; 78% White…
Validation of a Chinese translation of the Parents’ Beliefs About Children’s Emotions questionnaire and measurement invariance across Chinese and US mothers
Changes in children’s anger, sadness, and persistence across blocked goals
The current study took a person-centered approach to examine the heterogeneity of changes in children’s emotions and persistence during a goal-blocking task and examined how different profiles of emotions and persistence related to children’s self-regulation. Children’s anger, sadness, and persistence were rated in a goal-blocking task in toddlerhood (T1; N = 140, 72 boys, M age = 2.67 years, 90.7% White) and preschool (T2). Children’s self-regul…
Developmental patterns of children's shyness
The dysregulation of social fear has been widely studied in children's shyness, but we know little about how shy children regulate during unfair treatment. We first characterized developmental patterns of children's shyness (N = 304, n girls = 153; 74% White, 26% Other) across 2 (M age = 2.07), 3 (M age = 3.08), 4 (M age = 4.08), and 6 (M age = 6.58) years of age. Data collection occurred from 2007 to 2014. At age 6, the high stable group had hig…
Predicting preschool children's self-regulation from positive emotion
Decolonizing Neverland
Decolonizing NeverlandHow Native Voices Are Reimagining Books for Young Readers The 2021 NSK Prize Lecture Cynthia Leitich Smith Let’s all take a moment to breathe in some glittering fairy dust and share a wonderful, lovely thought. Let’s contemplate the magic and power of stories and the life-changing impact of books on young readers. When I was a little girl, my parents would take me sometimes to double features at our local drive-in theater. W…
Intergenerational transmission of maternal emotion regulation to child emotion regulation
Research on maternal socialization of child emotion regulation often involves measures of general parenting, yet little research has considered how maternal emotion regulation and emotion expressivity relate to children's ability to regulate their emotions. Because emotion regulation can be viewed as intergenerational, mothers who display higher levels of positive emotions and lower levels of negative emotions may create a more optimal emotional …
Maternal Stress and Sensitivity
SYNOPSISObjective. Stress felt by parents is often negatively related to their ability to engage in optimal parenting; however, research on relations of parenting stress to parenting behaviors typically examines negative associations instead of taking a strengths-based approach. The current study examines longitudinally the role of positive affect as a moderator of the relation of parenting stress to later maternal sensitivity, controlling for pr…
Patterns of parental emotion-related discourse and links with children’s problem behaviors
Research demonstrates that parents' emotion-related discourse during reminiscing shapes children's psychosocial outcomes, yet little is known about how different forms of parental emotion-related discourse work in combination. The present study takes a person-centered approach to better understand the relation of multiple forms of parental emotion discourse during reminiscing with problem behaviors in early childhood, as well as child influences …
Understanding the role of private speech in children's emotion regulation
Interactions between serotonin transporter gene haplotypes and quality of mothers' parenting predict the development of children's noncompliance
The LPR and STin2 polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) were combined into haplotypes that, together with quality of maternal parenting, were used to predict initial levels and linear change in children's (N = 138) noncompliance and aggression from age 18-54 months. Quality of mothers' parenting behavior was observed when children were 18 months old, and nonparental caregivers' reports of noncompliance and aggression were colle…
Differential susceptibility and the early development of aggression
The purpose of the current study was to predict the development of aggressive behavior from young children's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and environmental quality. In a longitudinal sample of 213 children, baseline RSA, RSA suppression in response to a film of crying babies, and a composite measure of environmental quality (incorporating socioeconomic status and marital adjustment) were measured, and parent-reported aggression was assessed…
Longitudinal relations among maternal behaviors, effortful control and young children's committed compliance
In a sample (n = 235) of 30-, 42-, and 54-month-olds, the relations among parenting, effortful control (EC), impulsivity, and children's committed compliance were examined. Parenting was assessed with mothers' observed sensitivity and warmth; EC was measured by mothers' and caregivers' reports, as well as a behavioral task; impulsivity was assessed by mothers' and caregivers' reports; and committed compliance was observed during a cleanup and pro…
Multiple Determinants of Parenting
SYNOPSIS Objective. A comprehensive understanding of individual differences in maternal parenting behaviors cannot be realized without consideration of multiple determinants of parenting within the same study. The goal of the present study was to examine the association of 3 categories of determinants of parenting (i.e., parent personality, contextual sources of stress and support, and child effects) to individual differences in maternal parentin…
Physiological Regulation and Fearfulness as Predictors of Young Children's Empathy‐related Reactions
Indices of physiological regulation (i.e., resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA] and RSA suppression) and observed fearfulness were tested as predictors of empathy-related reactions to an unfamiliar person's simulated distress within and across 18 (T1, N = 247) and 30 (T2, N = 216) months of age. Controlling for T1 helping, high RSA suppression and low fearfulness at T1 predicted T2 helping. In a structural model, empathic concern was margin…
Development of Shyness
The relations of childhood fearfulness (observed and adult reported) and adult‐reported shyness at 18 (n = 256) and 30 (n = 230) months of age were assessed. Fear was positively related to shyness concurrently and longitudinally, but slightly more consistently at 18 months. The moderating roles of observed maternal sensitivity and children's sex in the relation between 18‐month fearfulness and 30‐month shyness, and between 18‐ and 30‐month shynes…
Relations of Temperament to Maladjustment and Ego Resiliency in At‐risk Children
The relations of control/regulation‐related temperamentally based dispositions (effortful control (EC), impulsivity, and approach/avoidance) to externalizing problems and personality ego resiliency were examined in a sample of 467 children ( M age = 7.46 years), some of whom were children of alcoholics (COAs). In addition, we examined if the relations of temperamental regulation/control to maladjustment/ego resiliency were moderated by COA status…
The Relation of Cumulative Demographic Risk to Mothers' Responsivity and Control
The relations of cumulative demographic risk and children's temperament to mothers' parenting behaviors were examined when children were 18 (T1, n = 247) and 30 (T2, n = 216) months of age. Mothers, nonparental caregivers (e.g., child care providers), and observers reported on children's temperament to create a temperament composite, and mothers reported on demographic risk variables. Maternal responsivity and control were observed during 2 mothe…
Development of a Standardized Tool for Intergenerational Programming
Innovative intergenerational programs continue to grow in number and scope. The development of standardized evaluation instruments, however, lags behind, leaving many researchers and practitioners without tools to effectively assess their programs. Evaluation data often focus on outcomes without attention to the nature of the interactions between generations. Understanding the process of intergenerational contact is central to understanding its o…
Maternal Personality
OBJECTIVE: Longitudinal associations among maternal personality, emotional expressions, and parenting were examined. DESIGN: Maternal parenting (sensitivity and intrusiveness) and positive emotional expressions were observed during a free-play session with toddlers at 18 (T1, n = 246) and 30 (T3, n = 216) months. Mothers completed a personality measure at T1 and a questionnaire measuring their emotional expressiveness (positive and negative) when…
Relations of maternal socialization and toddlers' effortful control to children's adjustment and social competence
The authors examined the relations of maternal supportive parenting to effortful control and internalizing problems (i.e., separation distress, inhibition to novelty), externalizing problems, and social competence when toddlers were 18 months old (n = 256) and a year later (n = 230). Mothers completed the Coping With Toddlers' Negative Emotions Scale, and their sensitivity and warmth were observed. Toddlers' effortful control was measured with a …
Reply by Chester Smith [9/11 was not Guerilla Warfare
Predicting Stability and Change in Toddler Behavior Problems
This study examined the stability and continuity of early-identified behavior problems and the factors associated with this stability. Children and their mothers (N=125) were seen when the children were 2 and 4 years of age. Maternal reports of child externalizing behavior and laboratory observations of child noncompliance were stable from age 2 to age 4. Early externalizing behaviors decreased over time; however, child noncompliance in the labor…
Opinion - The technological efficiency of guerilla/ terrorist warfare
Relations of maternal socialization and toddlers' effortful control to children's adjustment and social competence
The authors examined the relations of maternal supportive parenting to effortful control and internalizing problems (i.e., separation distress, inhibition to novelty), externalizing problems, and social competence when toddlers were 18 months old (n = 256) and a year later (n = 230). Mothers completed the Coping With Toddlers' Negative Emotions Scale, and their sensitivity and warmth were observed. Toddlers' effortful control was measured with a …
The relations of effortful control and ego control to children's resiliency and social functioning
The relations of effortful control and ego control to children's (mean age = 137 months) resiliency, social status, and social competence were examined concurrently (Time 3) and over time. Adults reported on the constructs, and a behavioral measure of persistence was obtained. At Time 3, resiliency mediated the unique relations of both effortful and reactive control to social status, and effortful control directly predicted socially appropriate b…
Longitudinal relations among maternal behaviors, effortful control and young children's committed compliance
In a sample (n = 235) of 30-, 42-, and 54-month-olds, the relations among parenting, effortful control (EC), impulsivity, and children's committed compliance were examined. Parenting was assessed with mothers' observed sensitivity and warmth; EC was measured by mothers' and caregivers' reports, as well as a behavioral task; impulsivity was assessed by mothers' and caregivers' reports; and committed compliance was observed during a cleanup and pro…
Predicting Stability and Change in Toddler Behavior Problems
This study examined the stability and continuity of early-identified behavior problems and the factors associated with this stability. Children and their mothers (N=125) were seen when the children were 2 and 4 years of age. Maternal reports of child externalizing behavior and laboratory observations of child noncompliance were stable from age 2 to age 4. Early externalizing behaviors decreased over time; however, child noncompliance in the labor…
Maternal Interactive Style Across Contexts
Sixty‐five mothers and their 24‐month‐old toddlers were observed in a series of laboratory procedures designed to assess relations between maternal interactive style and emotional, behavioral and physiological regulation. Emotional regulation was assessed by examining the child’s behaviors (aggression, distraction, object focus) when confronted by three emotion‐eliciting tasks. Behavioral regulation was measured by examining children’s ability to…
Physiological Regulation and Fearfulness as Predictors of Young Children's Empathy‐related Reactions
Indices of physiological regulation (i.e., resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA] and RSA suppression) and observed fearfulness were tested as predictors of empathy-related reactions to an unfamiliar person's simulated distress within and across 18 (T1, N = 247) and 30 (T2, N = 216) months of age. Controlling for T1 helping, high RSA suppression and low fearfulness at T1 predicted T2 helping. In a structural model, empathic concern was margin…
Emotional Reactivity and Emotional Regulation Strategies as Predictors of Social Behavior with Peers During Toddlerhood
Fifty‐six mothers and their 24‐month‐old toddlers were observed on two occasions in a series of laboratory procedures designed to assess relations between emotional functioning (emotional reactivity and emotion regulation) in an individual assessment and social behavior with a same‐sex peer. Emotional reactivity was assessed using two frustration tasks designed to elicit distress. Emotional regulation was assessed by examining the child's behavio…
Multiple Determinants of Parenting
SYNOPSIS Objective. A comprehensive understanding of individual differences in maternal parenting behaviors cannot be realized without consideration of multiple determinants of parenting within the same study. The goal of the present study was to examine the association of 3 categories of determinants of parenting (i.e., parent personality, contextual sources of stress and support, and child effects) to individual differences in maternal parentin…
Understanding the role of private speech in children's emotion regulation
Development of a Standardized Tool for Intergenerational Programming
Innovative intergenerational programs continue to grow in number and scope. The development of standardized evaluation instruments, however, lags behind, leaving many researchers and practitioners without tools to effectively assess their programs. Evaluation data often focus on outcomes without attention to the nature of the interactions between generations. Understanding the process of intergenerational contact is central to understanding its o…
Maternal Personality
OBJECTIVE: Longitudinal associations among maternal personality, emotional expressions, and parenting were examined. DESIGN: Maternal parenting (sensitivity and intrusiveness) and positive emotional expressions were observed during a free-play session with toddlers at 18 (T1, n = 246) and 30 (T3, n = 216) months. Mothers completed a personality measure at T1 and a questionnaire measuring their emotional expressiveness (positive and negative) when…
Patterns of parental emotion-related discourse and links with children’s problem behaviors
Research demonstrates that parents' emotion-related discourse during reminiscing shapes children's psychosocial outcomes, yet little is known about how different forms of parental emotion-related discourse work in combination. The present study takes a person-centered approach to better understand the relation of multiple forms of parental emotion discourse during reminiscing with problem behaviors in early childhood, as well as child influences …
Interactions between serotonin transporter gene haplotypes and quality of mothers' parenting predict the development of children's noncompliance
The LPR and STin2 polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) were combined into haplotypes that, together with quality of maternal parenting, were used to predict initial levels and linear change in children's (N = 138) noncompliance and aggression from age 18-54 months. Quality of mothers' parenting behavior was observed when children were 18 months old, and nonparental caregivers' reports of noncompliance and aggression were colle…
Differential susceptibility and the early development of aggression
The purpose of the current study was to predict the development of aggressive behavior from young children's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and environmental quality. In a longitudinal sample of 213 children, baseline RSA, RSA suppression in response to a film of crying babies, and a composite measure of environmental quality (incorporating socioeconomic status and marital adjustment) were measured, and parent-reported aggression was assessed…
Predicting preschool children's self-regulation from positive emotion
Relations of Temperament to Maladjustment and Ego Resiliency in At‐risk Children
The relations of control/regulation‐related temperamentally based dispositions (effortful control (EC), impulsivity, and approach/avoidance) to externalizing problems and personality ego resiliency were examined in a sample of 467 children ( M age = 7.46 years), some of whom were children of alcoholics (COAs). In addition, we examined if the relations of temperamental regulation/control to maladjustment/ego resiliency were moderated by COA status…
Trends in covert applications of electrotechnology
The author examines the future of electronic technology in the area of covert or camouflaged applications. He discusses citizen-band radio, police-band radar detectors, security systems for homes and business, nonphysical intrusions (eavesdropping, wiretapping, and bugs), personal data security, and quack medical electronics. The author suggests that such applications represent a major growth area. >
Maternal Interactive Style Across Contexts
Sixty‐five mothers and their 24‐month‐old toddlers were observed in a series of laboratory procedures designed to assess relations between maternal interactive style and emotional, behavioral and physiological regulation. Emotional regulation was assessed by examining the child’s behaviors (aggression, distraction, object focus) when confronted by three emotion‐eliciting tasks. Behavioral regulation was measured by examining children’s ability to…
Emotional Reactivity and Emotional Regulation Strategies as Predictors of Social Behavior with Peers During Toddlerhood
Fifty‐six mothers and their 24‐month‐old toddlers were observed on two occasions in a series of laboratory procedures designed to assess relations between emotional functioning (emotional reactivity and emotion regulation) in an individual assessment and social behavior with a same‐sex peer. Emotional reactivity was assessed using two frustration tasks designed to elicit distress. Emotional regulation was assessed by examining the child's behavio…
Opinion - The technological efficiency of guerilla/ terrorist warfare
The Relations of Effortful Control and Reactive Control to Children's Externalizing Problems
In this study, we examined the role of negative emotionality as a moderator of the relations of effortful control and overcontrol (versus undercontrol) with children's externalizing problem behaviors; we also examined the longitudinal relations among these variables. Teachers' and parents' reports of children's negative emotionality, effortful control, overcontrol and externalizing problem behaviors were obtained at T1 (N=199; M age=89.51 months)…
The relations of effortful control and ego control to children's resiliency and social functioning
The relations of effortful control and ego control to children's (mean age = 137 months) resiliency, social status, and social competence were examined concurrently (Time 3) and over time. Adults reported on the constructs, and a behavioral measure of persistence was obtained. At Time 3, resiliency mediated the unique relations of both effortful and reactive control to social status, and effortful control directly predicted socially appropriate b…
Reply by Chester Smith [9/11 was not Guerilla Warfare
Predicting Stability and Change in Toddler Behavior Problems
This study examined the stability and continuity of early-identified behavior problems and the factors associated with this stability. Children and their mothers (N=125) were seen when the children were 2 and 4 years of age. Maternal reports of child externalizing behavior and laboratory observations of child noncompliance were stable from age 2 to age 4. Early externalizing behaviors decreased over time; however, child noncompliance in the labor…
Maternal Personality
OBJECTIVE: Longitudinal associations among maternal personality, emotional expressions, and parenting were examined. DESIGN: Maternal parenting (sensitivity and intrusiveness) and positive emotional expressions were observed during a free-play session with toddlers at 18 (T1, n = 246) and 30 (T3, n = 216) months. Mothers completed a personality measure at T1 and a questionnaire measuring their emotional expressiveness (positive and negative) when…
Relations of maternal socialization and toddlers' effortful control to children's adjustment and social competence
The authors examined the relations of maternal supportive parenting to effortful control and internalizing problems (i.e., separation distress, inhibition to novelty), externalizing problems, and social competence when toddlers were 18 months old (n = 256) and a year later (n = 230). Mothers completed the Coping With Toddlers' Negative Emotions Scale, and their sensitivity and warmth were observed. Toddlers' effortful control was measured with a …
The Relation of Cumulative Demographic Risk to Mothers' Responsivity and Control
The relations of cumulative demographic risk and children's temperament to mothers' parenting behaviors were examined when children were 18 (T1, n = 247) and 30 (T2, n = 216) months of age. Mothers, nonparental caregivers (e.g., child care providers), and observers reported on children's temperament to create a temperament composite, and mothers reported on demographic risk variables. Maternal responsivity and control were observed during 2 mothe…
Development of a Standardized Tool for Intergenerational Programming
Innovative intergenerational programs continue to grow in number and scope. The development of standardized evaluation instruments, however, lags behind, leaving many researchers and practitioners without tools to effectively assess their programs. Evaluation data often focus on outcomes without attention to the nature of the interactions between generations. Understanding the process of intergenerational contact is central to understanding its o…
Development of Shyness
The relations of childhood fearfulness (observed and adult reported) and adult‐reported shyness at 18 (n = 256) and 30 (n = 230) months of age were assessed. Fear was positively related to shyness concurrently and longitudinally, but slightly more consistently at 18 months. The moderating roles of observed maternal sensitivity and children's sex in the relation between 18‐month fearfulness and 30‐month shyness, and between 18‐ and 30‐month shynes…
Relations of Temperament to Maladjustment and Ego Resiliency in At‐risk Children
The relations of control/regulation‐related temperamentally based dispositions (effortful control (EC), impulsivity, and approach/avoidance) to externalizing problems and personality ego resiliency were examined in a sample of 467 children ( M age = 7.46 years), some of whom were children of alcoholics (COAs). In addition, we examined if the relations of temperamental regulation/control to maladjustment/ego resiliency were moderated by COA status…
Multiple Determinants of Parenting
SYNOPSIS Objective. A comprehensive understanding of individual differences in maternal parenting behaviors cannot be realized without consideration of multiple determinants of parenting within the same study. The goal of the present study was to examine the association of 3 categories of determinants of parenting (i.e., parent personality, contextual sources of stress and support, and child effects) to individual differences in maternal parentin…
Physiological Regulation and Fearfulness as Predictors of Young Children's Empathy‐related Reactions
Indices of physiological regulation (i.e., resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA] and RSA suppression) and observed fearfulness were tested as predictors of empathy-related reactions to an unfamiliar person's simulated distress within and across 18 (T1, N = 247) and 30 (T2, N = 216) months of age. Controlling for T1 helping, high RSA suppression and low fearfulness at T1 predicted T2 helping. In a structural model, empathic concern was margin…
Understanding the role of private speech in children's emotion regulation
Interactions between serotonin transporter gene haplotypes and quality of mothers' parenting predict the development of children's noncompliance
The LPR and STin2 polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) were combined into haplotypes that, together with quality of maternal parenting, were used to predict initial levels and linear change in children's (N = 138) noncompliance and aggression from age 18-54 months. Quality of mothers' parenting behavior was observed when children were 18 months old, and nonparental caregivers' reports of noncompliance and aggression were colle…
Differential susceptibility and the early development of aggression
The purpose of the current study was to predict the development of aggressive behavior from young children's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and environmental quality. In a longitudinal sample of 213 children, baseline RSA, RSA suppression in response to a film of crying babies, and a composite measure of environmental quality (incorporating socioeconomic status and marital adjustment) were measured, and parent-reported aggression was assessed…
Longitudinal relations among maternal behaviors, effortful control and young children's committed compliance
In a sample (n = 235) of 30-, 42-, and 54-month-olds, the relations among parenting, effortful control (EC), impulsivity, and children's committed compliance were examined. Parenting was assessed with mothers' observed sensitivity and warmth; EC was measured by mothers' and caregivers' reports, as well as a behavioral task; impulsivity was assessed by mothers' and caregivers' reports; and committed compliance was observed during a cleanup and pro…
Intergenerational transmission of maternal emotion regulation to child emotion regulation
Research on maternal socialization of child emotion regulation often involves measures of general parenting, yet little research has considered how maternal emotion regulation and emotion expressivity relate to children's ability to regulate their emotions. Because emotion regulation can be viewed as intergenerational, mothers who display higher levels of positive emotions and lower levels of negative emotions may create a more optimal emotional …
Maternal Stress and Sensitivity
SYNOPSISObjective. Stress felt by parents is often negatively related to their ability to engage in optimal parenting; however, research on relations of parenting stress to parenting behaviors typically examines negative associations instead of taking a strengths-based approach. The current study examines longitudinally the role of positive affect as a moderator of the relation of parenting stress to later maternal sensitivity, controlling for pr…
Patterns of parental emotion-related discourse and links with children’s problem behaviors
Research demonstrates that parents' emotion-related discourse during reminiscing shapes children's psychosocial outcomes, yet little is known about how different forms of parental emotion-related discourse work in combination. The present study takes a person-centered approach to better understand the relation of multiple forms of parental emotion discourse during reminiscing with problem behaviors in early childhood, as well as child influences …
Predicting preschool children's self-regulation from positive emotion
Decolonizing Neverland
Decolonizing NeverlandHow Native Voices Are Reimagining Books for Young Readers The 2021 NSK Prize Lecture Cynthia Leitich Smith Let’s all take a moment to breathe in some glittering fairy dust and share a wonderful, lovely thought. Let’s contemplate the magic and power of stories and the life-changing impact of books on young readers. When I was a little girl, my parents would take me sometimes to double features at our local drive-in theater. W…
Psychology (27 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (25 works) · Developmental psychology (25 works) · Social Psychology (18 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (14 works) · Social Psychology (13 works) · Clinical Psychology (9 works) · Personality (8 works) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics (6 works) · Clinical Psychology (6 works)